Petitions
Learn the Petition script for candidates, helpers and petition circulators. Background Candidates need to get signatures on petitions to get onto the ballot, for a primary election (for Dems and Republicans) or general elections (for Libertarians, Independents, Greens, etc.). Nomination petitions are for Ds and Rs. Nomination papers for for those who are NOT Ds and Rs. Questions and Answeres about Nomination Petition - for Independant Candidates The Committee to Fill Vacancies for an Independent Candidate: Can these committee people be registered as Democrats or Republicans? Yes. I don't believe they even need to be registered to vote, but play it safe and use registered voters. Can these committee people reside in a different district than the candidate? Yes. But play it safe, if possible. Use people within the district. What is the minimum number of committee people for an independent candidate? Three, but you can go as high as five. No reason to, though. Are there any registration requirements of the committee people before circulating the petition? No. When Ken K ran for governor in 2002, he put five names on the list (four L's, one R), and never did anything else with their names ever. Are there any gotcha's that need addressed before circulating a petition for an independent candidate that I should know about? That's a good laugh. There are ZILLIONS of gotcha's in the ballot access laws, and new ones are being made up all the time. I don't know of any specifically related to Independents, though. You don't need to file any paperwork before beginning to petition. You DO need to file the financial reporting paperwork (DSEB-502) once you spend more than $250 on your race, regardless of whether or not you petition. Probably the most-common petitioning mistake is using a post office name rather than a municipality name. For example, I live in Abington Township, but my mailing address is Elkins Park (which is half in Abington, half in Cheltenham). "Elkins Park" can appear nowhere on my petition. Below I've copied in some text from a brochure I wrote in 2002 for the Libertarian Party. It lists some other things of importance about petitioning that pertain to all parties. Maybe I should update it for running as an Independent? Before You Go Out... Before you start collecting any signatures, there are two items on each petition which you must first fill in: the line indicating the "County of Signers" in the Preamble (section A), and the name, address, and occupation of local candidates in the Candidate Information part (section B). Section A - County of Signers: The County of Signers is just that -- the name of the county where the _signers_ of your petition reside. For example, a person living in Erie County must sign a petition that says "Erie" on line 2 or else their signature will be disqualified. So if you're collecting signatures at an event where people may reside in different counties, before they sign be sure to ask them what county they live in. They'll have to sign the petition for their particular county. Note that some local candidates' districts may span two or more counties. In this case, your local candidate will need separate petitions for signers from each county as well. Section B - Candidate Information: Before you can begin petitioning, the candidate information section of the petition must first be filled in with the names of the statewide and local Libertarian candidates. Pennsylvania law allows for multiple candidates to be placed on a single petition (provided their districts overlap), and any signatures on that petition will count for all the candidates listed. When you get your petitions from the state party, the names of the statewide candidates will already be pre-printed on the petitions, but you'll likely have to add any local candidates' names and addresses yourself. Before you do, check with your local candidate or your county chair first to make sure your candidate information is accurate, and that the information is identical across all petitions, including middle initials and any honorifics. The address cannot be a PO box, and when specifying a candidate's home town, be sure to specify the name of their municipality rather than the name of their post office. When adding local candidates to a petition, you'll also need to include the official title of the office and district number. The official titles are "Representative in Congress" for a Congressman, "Senator in General Assembly" for a state senator, and "Representative in General Assembly" for a state rep. Who Can Sign? There are only two constraints on who can sign your petition. First, all signers must be registered voters; and fortunately they can be registered with ANY party, not just the Libertarian Party. Second, the signers must live within all districts listed on the candidate information portion of the petition. In other words, the signer must be eligible to vote for all of the candidates listed on the petition. Of course, come Election Day they can vote for whomever they choose, not necessarily Libertarians. In general, a signer can only sign once for a given office. How Should the Voters Sign? It's important that the voter personally fill out all the required information on the petition, including their written signature in the first column, their printed name in the second, plus their full street address (no PO boxes), town, and date. If there is any question about what name or address a voter should use, the information on the petition should always match what's on their voter registration card. Use blue or black ink only, and be sure to bring a spare pen. Ditto marks are not permitted, and missing information can cause a signature to be disqualified. Pay close attention to how people sign, because once someone makes a mistake, subsequent signers tend to copy their mistakes. Don't I Have a Right? It's possible that the local property owner may decide to take exception to your petitioning activities. If it's private property, such as a mall or carnival, it's usually best to just move on. However, if you're petitioning on public property, such as sidewalks, parks, parades, or at the polls on Primary Day, you have every right to be there. The state party can supply you with a legal memo which you can present to law enforcement officers to affirm that right. Regardless of who's right or wrong, as an ambassador for your party and your candidate, remember always to be polite. After You Return Home... Once you've finished collecting signatures, you must fill out the "Affidavit of Qualified Elector" on the back of each and every petition, then have it notarized by signing it in front of a Pennsylvania notary. _If you do not have the petition notarized, the signatures you collect are not valid!_ The person who signs the Affidavit must be the same person who collected the signatures, or personally supervised their collection, and they must be registered to vote in Pennsylvania. Only fill in the blanks on the _right_ side of the Affidavit; the blanks on the left side are for the notary. Be sure that the "County of Paper Signers Residence" in the Affidavit matches the "County of Signers" on the front of the petition. Don't worry if there is still room for more signatures on the petition when you have it notarized, but be sure that no one else signs the petition _after_ it's notarized. Commercial notaries usually charge a few dollars to notarize each petition. However, the staff of most state representatives and state senators will notarize any state-related document, petitions included, for free. category: Democracy